The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday calling on Japan to immediately institute legal fixes to controversial child custody practices that have long dogged failed marriages between U.S and Japanese citizens and led hundreds of American parents to level accusations of kidnapping against their former Japanese spouses.

In mid-April, 12-year-old Michiko Watanabe, as she was now being called, found herself in a precarious situation. Earlier, her mother had clearly let her child know that she would no longer consider herself Michiko’s mother if Michiko ever attempted to return to her father. In fact, her mother said that she would never even speak to her again in such a case…

—Media Advisory--***WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 29 at 11:00AM***Moran to Mobilize Congress on Child Abduction to Japan MeasureHours before House vote, Moran to hold press conference with members, victimsWashington, D.C. – On Wednesday, Congressman Jim Moran, Democrat of Northern Virginia, will hold a press conference to call for swift passage of a resolution on child abduction to Japan. H. Res. 1326 was introduced by Moran in May and aims to up the pressure on the Japanese Government to work with the State Department to address hundreds of unresolved cases of spousal abduction of American children to Japan. On the day the resolution is slated for consideration on the House floor, Moran will join Members of Congress and left behind parents to shed light on this ongoing impasse.

by Shaun TandonWASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday stepped up pressure on Japan to end parental abductions, pledging to put a top priority on letting hundreds of foreign parents see their half-Japanese children.

Washington, Sep 29 - A bill addressing the plight of American children and desperate left behind parents who are victims of international child abduction to Japan passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming support today.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The House turned up the pressure Wednesday on close ally Japan, strongly urging Tokyo to return immediately half-Japanese children that lawmakers say have been kidnapped from their American parents.

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Troops who marry foreign nationals while stationed overseas will get more advice about the child custody issues that can plague international marriages gone sour.The Defense Department has agreed to provide the military legal and family support agencies with more information on the family court systems in countries such as Japan and

Parents with children abducted to Japan have been working to raise awareness of the human rights violations taking place in Japan. U.S. children, born of international marriages, suffer tremendously when the Japanese parent, in violation of U.S. and international laws, abducts to Japan and isolate them from their U.S. parent, family, friends and country.

WASHINGTON – House Resolution 1326, condemning Japan for violating human rights in the matter of parentally abducted children is set to for a full House vote September 28, 2010.After months of anticipation, US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Howard Berman (D-CA), has taken a great step for currently abducted American children, by putting H. Res. 1326 on the calendar for Tuesday, September 28, 2010.

WASHINGTON – Several Left-Behind Parents of Bring Abducted Children Home (BAC Home), began a three-day push to bring a vote on House Resolution 1326 to the House floor before Congress recesses for further campaigning on October 1, 2010.H. Res. 1326 condemns Japan over its blatant disregard for human rights in the matter of parentally abducted children. Since 1994, three-hundred United States citizens have been abducted to Japan from the United States. Japan has sanctioned the abductions and refused to recognize United States sovereignty over the abducted children.

In July, Tokyo’s family court granted me, an American, physical custody (kangoken) of my 13-year-old daughter exactly 120 days after she was abducted by my Japanese wife, a lifelong public servant employed as a teacher at a state school in Tokyo. This just may be the first time that Japan’s family court has awarded a foreign father custody of a Japanese child after a successful abduction by the child’s Japanese mother.

I have been meaning to write something on this topic for quite a while. I first began corresponding with Randy Collins a few months ago through a mutual friend who wondered whether Collins’ story might make for a good Hot Air topic, and he told me of his son Keisuke …